Legal width of unadopted shared Rd/Drive

Weresmydosh

I knew the drive was shared access though it belongs to me as per the deeds from the day I bought the house.
I live on an estate still under development, I bought my property 3 years ago, (when you turn right off the estate road the shared road/ drive starts to the left side of the 30 mt drive it passes my rear garden then my gable then my front lawn then my detatched double garage with parking for upto 4 cars on my land not the shared road/drive then finishes with a wooden fence boardering woodland) so my front door windows etc face towards the woods, nice view, private etc thats why I bought the house.
When I bought the house I also got the drive as per my deeds. i knew 3 good sized detached properys were to be erected to the right hand side of the shared road/ drive all with private drives leading to integral garages however the development as changed hands and new planning as been submitted were they want to build 4 houses not 3 the additional house being created by substituting the detatched nearest the woodland at the futherest point down the drive for a pair of semi's with no garage 's just a drive down the gable as frontage is on boarder with shared drive.
The shared drive is 2.9Mts wide by 30Mts long, the new proposed semi at the furthest point down the drive if he drives to his property in foward gear the only way he can then leave his property and get on the estate road would be to reverse out of his drive and onto mt private area if I had none of my family cars parrked up, or reverse down a 30 mt drive this cannot be OK
There is no turning area at the end of the shared drive also I cannot see him or her being able to turn direct onto there drive has there is there home frontage then narrow drive 2.5 mts with wooden fence deviding.
What I have read is this from Brent council on the internet is this •
Quote:Shared driveways (unadopted paved areas which serve house driveways) should be used by no more than five houses and should be a minimum of 4.8m wide.
Is this local or UK wide ?
The other point is can I object to a lower quality / value of house being built that will de-value mine and other excisting houses or is that just snob factor
Sorry about spelling etc I am not very academic
Thanks for any replys
Martin

Doozergirl

It's building regulations that deal with minimum widths etc. I think primarily for the access of Fire Vehicles to properties. If the drive is more than 20m long then there must be a turning circle as a fire appliance can't be expected to reverse more than that. So if it's 30m long, it needs a big old turning circle - whether or not your land can be counted I don't know but there is a definite need for them to address the issue of fire safety for Building Regulations.

I would raise this with the planners as it's an issue that needs addressing.

Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations here:
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADB1_2006.pdf
B5 relates to access for fire vehicles. Every part of the house needs to be accessible by a pump within 45m so it really does depend on the individual layout of your drive and it's houses.

If you phone building control yourself, or go and see them, they will tell you - especially if plans are in, they can look at them and tell you.

lincroft1710

Weresmydosh wrote: »

The other point is can I object to a lower quality / value of house being built that will de-value mine and other excisting houses or is that just snob factor

You could object but I doubt if it would be effective, especially if there is a need for "cheaper" housing in the area or the developer can demonstrate he could sell 2 semis more easily than one detached. Yes, you are a snob as I live in a 3 bed semi which has no garage.

ILW

lincroft1710 wrote: »

You could object but I doubt if it would be effective, especially if there is a need for "cheaper" housing in the area or the developer can demonstrate he could sell 2 semis more easily than one detached. Yes, you are a snob as I live in a 3 bed semi which has no garage.

That must be terrible, how do you manage?

mercmanricky

Very interested in the outcome, i rented a house last year that had a 35 metre shared driveway, that must have been similar width, maybe just over 3metres wide. My house mates managed to turn their little hatch backs around no problem, but my huge rusty mercedes estate had to be reversed all the way out every day.
I resorted to reversing in and driving out, but either way i always told the landlord that surely there should be somewhere to turn properly!

P.s. I never hit anything in 18 months of reversing in and out!

Weresmydosh

lincroft1710 wrote: »

You could object but I doubt if it would be effective, especially if there is a need for "cheaper" housing in the area or the developer can demonstrate he could sell 2 semis more easily than one detached. Yes, you are a snob as I live in a 3 bed semi which has no garage.

I used to live in a one bedroomed upstairs local authority flat with drug dealing neighbours in a high crime area but with work work and more work managed to get to were I am now so it is not snobbish to want the nicer things, I do not do drugs smoke have fancy cars take holadays abroad every year or any HP do you

Weresmydosh

Doozergirl wrote: »

It's building regulations that deal with minimum widths etc. I think primarily for the access of Fire Vehicles to properties. If the drive is more than 20m long then there must be a turning circle as a fire appliance can't be expected to reverse more than that. So if it's 30m long, it needs a big old turning circle - whether or not your land can be counted I don't know but there is a definite need for them to address the issue of fire safety for Building Regulations.

I would raise this with the planners as it's an issue that needs addressing.

Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations here:
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADB1_2006.pdf
B5 relates to access for fire vehicles. Every part of the house needs to be accessible by a pump within 45m so it really does depend on the individual layout of your drive and it's houses.

If you phone building control yourself, or go and see them, they will tell you - especially if plans are in, they can look at them and tell you.

Hi
Very intresting just read up on details page 54 but does that mean they can park up to 45 mts away or nearest hydrent should be no more than 45Mts away and they should still be able to get a appliance up the shared road and turn around with a road width as stated in the document
Thanks

Doozergirl

Weresmydosh wrote: »

Hi
Very intresting just read up on details page 54 but does that mean they can park up to 45 mts away or nearest hydrent should be no more than 45Mts away and they should still be able to get a appliance up the shared road and turn around with a road width as stated in the document
Thanks

You need to speak to building control with plans in hand. It is going to depend on the layout of the planned development.

Doozergirl

Weresmydosh wrote: »

I used to live in a one bedroomed upstairs local authority flat with drug dealing neighbours in a high crime area but with work work and more work managed to get to were I am now so it is not snobbish to want the nicer things, I do not do drugs smoke have fancy cars take holadays abroad every year or any HP do you

Tbf, You asked whether you were being snobbish. You got an answer to it!

It isn't being a snob working to get to to the house you want but it probably is when you're drawing the line between nice neighbours and potentially bad ones in the small difference between three or four houses, and a couple of hundred square feet in house size down your drive...

Fwiw, I live in a massive house and can still afford to take drugs and fancy holidays

G_M

Doesn't it also depend on the terms of your deeds or the conveyance referred to in the Title?
Since the drive is yours ("it belongs to me as per the deeds from the day I bought the house. ") with access permitted to others, there must be statements about who can use it, how many properties, and on what basis.
What does it say?

RLH33

You cannot object to a housing development on the basis of the poor quality of the housing or the fact that it will devalue yours. It will be given very short shrift.

In relation to the access to one of the houses, as the previous poster has said you probably have far more control through your ownership of the drive. You need to read your deeds very carefully, consult a solicitor if necessary, and see if the deeds state how many additional houses are allowed to use your drive. If it is only 3 then you are within your rights to refuse access to any additional dwellings.

Have a look at the plans - does the red edged line include your driveway - arguably it should as it should include the highway access, if it does have you been been given notice of this by the applicants? If not object to the Council as the applicants should have served a Certificate B notice on you.

Regarding the turning circle, none of the houses can use your private land as part of their turning circle, they have no control over it and if you have parked all over it they would not be able to turn round.

You also need to have a word with the Planning Officer and ask what the Highways Officer has to say about this - a previous poster was right about Building Regs but really at this point it will be the highways officer that should be looking at whether a fire tender would have access and whether a 30m reverse is an acceptable way of exiting the property for the future occupiers - I would say it is not and that the house should have the facility to turn a vehicle within close proximity of the house i.e. without a lengthy reverse.